As the streaming platform begins to take more action to enforce its code of conduct, Twitch has banned Donald Trump’s account for “hateful conduct.” The ban is a temporary suspension, with no word currently on how long it will last.
No, the President of the United States wasn’t playing online shooters while making racist remarks. His Twitch platform was used to live stream various rallies and addresses, sometimes rebroadcasting older rallies. Reports indicate that the suspension comes following comments made during his recent Tulsa rally, as well as racist remarks made during a rebroadcast of a 2016 rally.
“Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch. In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream,” Twitch said of the ban. “Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.”
Twitch provided these examples to GamesBeat as samples of the comments the account was banned for:
- 2016 campaign rally, recently rebroadcast on Twitch: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting. And it only makes common sense. It only makes common sense. They’re sending us not the right people.”
- Recent Tulsa Rally: “Hey, it’s 1 o’clock in the morning and a very tough, I’ve used the word on occasion, hombre, a very tough hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do. And you call 911 and they say, ‘I’m sorry, this number’s no longer working.’ By the way, you have many cases like that, many, many, many. Whether it’s a young woman, an old woman, a young man or an old man and you’re sleeping.”
This crackdown follows Twitch’s promise to better enforce its policies following a surge of reports in the past week of sexual misconduct by various streamers. Popular and problematic streamer Dr. Disrespect—who had a contract with Twitch—was also banned last week, through Twitch has yet to publicly state the reason for his permanent removal from the platform.
Though unrelated, Twitch’s ban of Trump comes on the same day that Reddit banned the much trafficked r/The_Donald subreddit for harassment and hate speech in an effort to clean up its own platform and foster a more inclusive environment.
[Via: Game Revolution]
